Mark of the Phaenonite
The Phaenonites are one of the darkest and most malignant radical factions of the Inquisition, obsessed with harnessing the powers of the warp and mastering the daemon though the use of twisted and long forbidden technology. Declared Excommunicate Traitoris for its many crimes and from turning from the worship of the God-Emperor in favour of its own megalomaniacal quest for power, the faction was brutally suppressed and purged, but not destroyed. Operating now entirely under a shadowed veil of secrecy like a slowly spreading cancer within the Inquisition, the Phaenonites, though few in number, are growing again in power and influence within the Calixis Sector. Thanks in part to their outlaw status and the extreme paranoia of the secret Phaenonite Inquisitors, it has become the faction’s practice to mark their most trusted inner circle of Acolytes as their own. This mark takes the shape of a painful series of electoos burned onto the subject’s flesh that—once implanted—are invisible until triggered by the conscious will of the recipient. The occult geometry, warding sigils, and malefic warp runes that make up the electoos pattern are unique to each marked Acolyte and serve both as a secure means of identification so that the Phaenonites may know each other and as a covert means of enforcing an Inquisitor’s control over his followers. The mark’s presence also indicates one who has been inducted into the heart of this excommunicate and sinister faction and begun to learn its secrets, and who has likely done and seen many terrible and fearful things in order to earn it. Restrictions: The character must swear allegiance to the Phaenonite Inquisitor who grants him his mark, an act that places him under penalty of death should this ever be exposed to the wider Inquisition. This Elite Advance should only be made available to an Acolyte who has become the trusted servant of a Phaenonite Inquisitor. Advance Cost: 350 xp. Effects The effects of the Phaenonite Mark are as follows: * Gain 1d5+1 Corruption Points and 1d5+1 Insanity Points. * The character reduces all further Corruption Points they incur (after the initial penalty for taking this advance) by –1 per incidence. * +10 to Tests to resist the effects of Fear, psychic probing of the mind, and interrogation. * The character may ‘trigger’ the electoo at will, displaying its glowing runes dancing across his flesh and augmetics, identifying himself and his ‘patron’ to fellow Phaenonites. * Geas: The character must pass a Difficult (–10) Willpower Test to resist a direct command from the one who gave him the mark. (The GM may alter this difficulty to provide a bonus to resist the effect of commands that are harmful to the character as appropriate.) Should the character ever successfully resist such a command by a margin of three degrees or more, this effect is permanently broken, although the mark’s other effects still apply. * Phaenonite Advances: A character with this mark has access to the Skills and Talents shown on Phaenonite Advances at the listed additional xp cost from this point on. Category:Elite Advance Packages